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February 2024 by Céline BODART
For secondhand clothing, the UWS is replete with stellar options {Housing Works on W 74th, Housing Works on W 96th, Unique Boutique on W 83rd, St Francis Thrift Store on W 96th = all excellent options}. UES has great thrift options too: Unique Boutique on E 94th, Housing Works on E 90th, Goodwill NYNJ on E 88th, & there’s another one in East Harlem}. Once you step in and see how current and high quality the pieces they have are, and for such bargain prices (plenty of great pieces between $5 - $20), you’ll basically never shop new again. It’ll change the way you shop in nyc.Housing Works on 74th & Columbus —this one in particular has some terrific designer fashion finds; it also has a very cool home-wear section and some collectible pieces that are sold off on an auction basis. It’s very very cool.
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January 2024 by Linda Cohen
I've been going to Housing Works for at least 30 years. I always drop off my used clothes, shoes, bags, boots, books etc. So I know they're going to a good cause! Also, I found my favorite boots ever at that store. Dark green lizards boots with just the right cowboy heal. I LOVED ! THEM. I had to give them back to Housing Works this year, 2023, because my tiny feet (size 5 1/2) got too large for them: -( REALLY GREAT STUFF*** IF YOU LOOK!
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January 2024 by E F
Great venue - make the donations process super easy. Offer a tax rebate form at time of donation, if needed. Great flow of customers so I expect they do a lot of business. Value having somewhere that is committed to supporting others and is easy to work with.
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December 2023 by Josh Y.
I called the store 45 minutes before closing, frantic to get a suit for a black tie gala I had been invited to for that night. They were so incredibly helpful and assured me they would help as best they could. I literally ran from Central Park, tried on 4 suits, and was out of there 5 minutes before the closed. The employees gave me the best recommendations, helped me get organized, and were so kind. Next time I'm in nyc and I want to thrift, Housing Works will be the first in my list.
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December 2023 by Carlee Bird
Snagged a nice pair of pants here that I’m excited about. I wouldn’t call it thrifting, but it’s sustainable nonetheless. Cashier was super sweet.
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November 2023 by RJ S
Rude staff (as noted in other recent poor reviews, there is a rogue, young, female sales assistant)!!! We just moved to the UWS and a friend told us about Housing Works - we love the concept of them selling pre-loved, donated goods to raise money for those living with HIV, so went to check it out. Things seemed surprisingly expensive for donated goods, but heh, this is the UWS! I found three small objects for our new apartment near the payment counter and stood to pay - “these are not for sale”, snapped the young woman assistant. “Oh, but they have price tags on”, I responded politely, only to have her snap back loudly “ didn’t you hear me? I said these. are. not. for. sale”. No explanation. No “oh, I’m so sorry. We realized they were marked incorrectly, so are about to reprice them.” Nothing. Just rudeness. My husband and I left the store immediately and vowed never to donate there and never to attempt to purchase anything from there again. And a lesson for the manager: TRAIN YOUR STAFF IN BASIC CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
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October 2023 by R G
I feel that this place is very hit or miss. Everything is rather overpriced, I can’t recommend as a vintage or thrift store because they charging so much for things that are donated. I know their cause, however it’s a bit ridiculous to charge so much. You can sometimes find a gem that’s fairly priced, but their best of season events are just ploys to hold inventory and mark everything up.
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September 2023 by René G.
I feel that this place is very hit or miss. Everything is rather overpriced, I can't recommend as a vintage or thrift store because they charging so much for things that are donated. I know their cause, however it's a bit ridiculous to charge so much. You can sometimes find a gem that's fairly priced, but their best of season events are just ploys to hold inventory and mark everything up.
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September 2023 by David “Tofu Dave” Bellin
High quality artistic items. Not cheap stuff but quality instead. Don't wait if you want it and can afford it!
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September 2023 by Kit B.
I shop at Housing Works regularly and have bought many wonderful things there. I also donate in equal proportions and had, in fact, assembled a number of items (Eileen Fisher clothes, Theo eyeglasses, some lovely leather bags, my mother's vintage condiment set) to bring them. Although I love the cause that this store supports, after today's exchange with a worker, I want to go anywhere but there to donate. A young man was unpacking some donations and I merely asked him if he knew when those items would be put on the floor. (I had spotted an item I liked.) Simple question -- didn't take up any of his time, but his reply (spoken in a thoroughly obnoxious tone which my summary may not do Justice to): "NOT RIGHT THIS MINUTE." I take as much delight in donating as I do in purchasing, but not when this kind of attitude is dished out. I only wish that I knew Mr. Self-Important's name, because in recent years I have found so many of the workers to be quite warm and helpful at this branch.
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September 2023 by Alexa Torres Skillicorn
Today was my first time visiting Housing Works Thrift and I had a bad experience with an employee who was unnecessarily rude. This is how it went down: I perused around the shop for about 20 minutes before I was done checking everything out. My husband was going to buy a book and was still looking. I saw a couple sitting on a nearby couch that seemed like it was set up for people to rest while they waited for their companions to finish shopping. There was no sign to indicate that one was not allowed to sit. I sat down on the couch just as the couple before me got up to leave. After a few minutes, I heard a snide voice say "How would you like to not sit there," in an extremely rude tone. I looked up to see an employee peering down at me with a mean smirk on her face. The way she went about this was unnecessarily nasty. It would have been fine if she had merely said "Excuse me, we are asking customers please not to sit on the couch" in a courteous tone. But instead, this employee chose to be rude for no reason. Despite her mean demeanor, I immediately stood up. I explained that because there was no sign that indicated people couldn't sit and since I had seen others sitting, it was not clear that sitting on the couch was "against the rules." She responded that sitting wasn't against the rules -- people are allowed to sit on the couch -- but that they were trying to sell the couch, and that they wanted people to be standing up looking around and spending money. There are a few things that struck me about her response. For one, you now have an employee (or perhaps owner, who knows) being rude to a potential customer not for breaking a clearly articulated rule, but rather, for doing something that was completely within the realm of established acceptable behavior. She approached me as if I was doing something blatantly "wrong" when in fact I wasn't even breaking any rule. Another baffling consideration: since sitting is not "against the rules," does this mean that the employee arbitrarily gets to decide who is "allowed" to sit on the couch and who isn't? Seems a bit shady. Finally, the employee explained her behavior in part by saying that she wanted to encourage people to spend money in the store. In case any management is reading this, I would like to note that, in fact, her approach had the opposite effect. After this encounter, I immediately went and found my husband to tell him we should leave. He was going to purchase a book but I explained to him that I did not want to spend any money in the store after an employee had been unnecessarily rude to me so he put the book back. I live in the area and buy most of my house and clothing items from thrift stores. Were it not for this negative experience, I likely would have been a regular customer but now I will not return the Columbus location of Housing Works Thrift. If Housing Works Thrift wants to encourage visitors to spend money in their store, I suggest they adjust their strategy by ensuring that employees are kind to potential patrons.
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August 2023 by David E.
Update: I am happy to say the prices for CDs and DVDs have gone back to the original prices. The only prices that are a little speedy are dvd box sets(understandable)
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August 2023 by Kenji N.
I was going to buy a book here partially because the price tag said "$2.00." Then, when I took the book to the register, this woman there mumbled "Why is it $2" or something and without asking me she charged $3 for it. Not like "I think it's been mistakenly priced and it should be $3. But is it alright with you?" or anything!!! Who in the right mind would change the price of something that clearly says $2 on the price tag without asking to the person who is buying it??? It's not the price really that upset me but rather it was her action that disgusted me.
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March 2023 by alyssa r
super cool finds!! they had these old music boxes at one of the tables for sale for 20$ each and they all were still working! great books selection at the front but the clothes weren’t interesting in my opinion. amazing shop though!
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March 2023 by Emma M.
I wanted to stop by to look at the DVDs and CDs because they usually have a good selection. This time around I wasn't all that impressed with their selection but I was able to find one of the Aliens movies, Aliens Covenant, which I bought for only three dollars. I love this Housing Works location and have been coming here since the fourth grade. I also love how friendly everyone was here. I hope to come again soon and see how their CDs, DVDs, and Records are updated.
